The Amazing Race Canada showcased the Cowichan Valley in its July 17 episode, entitled “Sounds Like a Wild Boar”.
Race day began in Dawson City, Yukon but the competitors soon were winging towards Saltspring Island for their first challenge of the day.
They had to find the famous Saltspring Saturday Market, and then locate a baking stall where substantial home-cooked blueberry pies awaited.
Everyone was commenting, “Oh, I love pie!”
Little did they know.
Each competitor had to wolf down a whole pie, and, boy did some of them find it hard going. Barf buckets were nearby, but were never really needed, although one candidate — Martina — leaned over the container and made sound that the others said was “like a wild boar”.
However, one Amazing Race Express Pass, won previously, was used by a team that just couldn’t finish. Nobody wanted to even hear the word “pie” after that.
Once they’d cleared the pie hurdle, the racers hopped in their cars, and drove across Saltspring Island to catch the ferry to Crofton on Vancouver Island. From there, under rainy skies, they had to make their way to the Island Motorsport Circuit.
Once at the Circuit — a test track custom built for high-end sports cars — one member of each team had to ease themselves in behind the wheel of a hot 2018 Corvette Grand Sport convertible and drive it around the wet track rally style: finishing in a specified time while keeping their speed under 80 km/hour.
Several competitors were itching to wind the motor up, but only one driver — Courtney — was penalized for her lead foot.
Then, they all had to find The Raptors (Pacific Northwest Raptors) Centre where they would have to “tie the knot”.
Surprisingly, this was the challenge where the rubber really met the road.
The other member of each team had to tie a special falconers’ knot, one-handed, while balancing one of the centre’s renowned raptors on the other hand, which was suitably covered by a falconer’s glove.
Running this gauntlet was simple for some. Todd and Courtney whizzed through, while others took quite a while before they even got close to figuring it out.
Eventually, everyone had to cross the finish line in the centre of the Kinsol Trestle — the superbly reconstructed all-wooden bridge that spans the Koksilah River in the south end of the Cowichan Valley.
One team was eliminated in this episode: Joseph and Akash were stuck for ages at The Raptors, despite getting to the Vancouver Island ferry first.
Next week, the teams will take off for Jakarta, Indonesia, and some unique Asian adventures.
